Selectmen stick by public safety vote

HOLDEN - Just weeks away from the town-wide election to finance the proposed $13.66 million public safety building, debate over the project continues.

The select board heard Monday from several residents, including a police chief and emergency medicine physician, asking the majority of the board to reconsider its opposition to the project.

The board did not discuss a reconsideration of its May 15 vote at which David White Sr., James Jumonville and Kimberly Ferguson opposed the project, while Joseph Sullivan and Kenneth O'Brien supported it.

The three selectmen said that while they support public safety, they were heeding constituents' concerns that the project is too costly and too large.

Voters at the annual town meeting backed the project 294-44, easily earning the two-thirds margin

needed for passage. A majority is required at the upcoming election to secure financing.

Among those who spoke Monday was James Hurley III, a 21-year resident and chief of the Leicester Police Department, which has a new police station.

Hurley, who lauded the professionalism of the police, fire and emergency staff, recalled a case several years ago when he worked with the Holden department on a drug raid that netted approximately 10 arrests.

"I cannot tell you the horrendous conditions we had to work in that [Holden] police station," he said. "We could not physically book all the prisoners at the same time, there were not sufficient holding cell facilities for them. They and the community deserve better.

"You can not place a value on feeling safe in your community and the quality of service we receive."

Dr. Peter Paige of Holden, vice chairman of clinical operations of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the UMass Memorial Medical Center-University Campus, told the board he visited the detached, single-vehicle garage that houses the ambulance at the former Holden District Hospital site.

Ambulance staff are housed on the third-floor of the former hospital building.

Paige expressed concern that the garage is not properly temperature controlled, which, he said, could affect the life-saving medications that are stored on the ambulance.

Response time getting a patient to treatment is critical for conditions such as cardiac failure, strokes and trauma, Paige said.

"Minutes can be significant," he said.

Paige said he's concerned with the housing of the ambulance staff and their safe comings and goings. He said there are two ways the staff can access the building, one being a metal fire escape that can become treacherous in the wintertime. He noted that once the personnel reach ground level, they still face the obstacle of hurrying across an icy parking lot to the garage.

The second and longer access, he said, requires staff to go down three floors, emerging from the building on cement steps. That too could be a wintertime obstacle, he said.

Paige said the town's 911 dispatch center, located in the police station, is significantly flawed. The communications center needs to be separate, in a quiet location where telecommunicators can focus on 911 calls, he said.

"He or she really should not be interrupted by people coming into the police station or prisoners banging on the cell walls," Paige said.

Paige said communities have better response times when there is a collaborative effort between police, fire and ambulance, especially when room is provided for joint training.

"They cross train," he said. "They all know their part and how to respond to an emergency."

Reconsideration requested

Among those who asked the board to reconsider its stance was Holden for Children organizer and former selectman candidate Glenn Gaudette of Jennifer Drive.

"You said at town meeting your constituents expressed concerns over the project," he said. "I also expressed concerns many of which were addressed. What was clear at town meeting was that your constituents voted almost 9 to 1 to support the project.

"It is the right thing to do for the future of our town," he said. "Safety is always a top concern, and by building a new facility, we are more likely to retain our outstanding public safety officers, providing a safe environment for the future of Holden."

Citing the town meeting vote, Sterling Road resident Maureen Floryan said, "If hearing from constituents is the benchmark, you have heard from constituents loud and clear. It would make sense to change your no vote to a yes vote if this is indeed your voting criteria."

Members of the Holden Public Safety Building Committee, along with Police Chief George Sherrill and outgoing Fire Chief Edward Stark Jr., gave a brief presentation, similar to the one presented on May 15, to the board.

If the project is approved, request for proposals will be sent out this fall, with an 18-month to two-year construction timeline.

Selectmen learned Monday it would cost about $800,000 to make repairs to both stations if the project is not supported, but that those repairs don't address other current and long-term problems with the buildings.

Ferguson said she did not want residents to be concerned with the quality of medications administered on the ambulance and asked what the town would do between now and two years with the temperature control issue.

"If there's a concern about medication and safety, I think we need to address that," she said.

Town Manager Brian Bullock said it was his sense from Paige's comments and the AMR contract that the medications are removed from the ambulance and stored inside. However, removing the medications and then having to replace them could add a step to the ambulance's response time, he said.

"The process we'll confirm for you," Bullock said.

Sullivan asked if the board would reconsider its stance. A motion from the majority was not made.

Ferguson said she continues to hear from people who have concerns about the project. She said she respects town meeting outcome, but that she and other members of the board have previously felt that the turnout at town meeting does not necessarily represent the sentiments of the majority of residents.

"I'm not changing my position tonight," she said.

The building would be built at the current Holden Fire Department headquarters across the street from Wachusett Regional High School on Main Street. It would house the town's police, fire and ambulance services. This is the second time the project has

come before voters, the last time was in 2004. Although project costs have risen, the two-story, 38,000 sq. ft. building is physically the same as first proposed. In 2004, the then $11.7 million project passed at town meeting but failed at the ballot box.

On Tuesday, June 20, voters will be asked to support the project's financing, which would require borrowing approximately $12.86 million through a 20-year debt exclusion, which raises taxes for the life of the debt.

The finance committee has supported the project.

After re-examining more than 24 sites and building possibilities after the 2004 defeat, the building committee agreed that its original proposal provided the best location and offered the best response time for the departments.

The committee has said the building's size would meet the current and future needs of the departments for about 50 years.

Both chiefs have cited a number of inadequacies, safety and security issues and physical problems with the two stations.